Care-Energy

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Care-Energy

logo
legal form GmbH (Holding)
AG (Energy supplier)
founding 2011
Reason for dissolution insolvency
Seat Hamburg , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Insolvency administrator Jan H. Wilhelm
Branch power supply
Website www.care-energy.de

Care-Energy is a German energy supply company for electricity and gas based in Hamburg . The business model and conduct of the cheap electricity provider repeatedly met with criticism and official sanctions. On February 17, 2017, the holding filed for bankruptcy .

Corporate structure

The company consists of a holding and sales company, Care-Energy Holding GmbH . The sole shareholder and managing director was the Austrian entrepreneur Martin Kristek until his death on January 21, 2017. The subsidiaries of Care-Energy Holding are Care-Energy Management GmbH as a so-called energy service provider, the energy supplier United Power & Gas GmbH & Co. KG and the Care-Energy Verlag GmbH responsible for marketing . Until June 2014, the group of companies operated as mk-group , the names of the group companies also changed several times. In addition, Care-Energy AG exists as an energy supplier based in Munich.

Business model

According to its own information, Care-Energy offered a so-called “energy service”, in which the company delivered supposed “useful energy” to consumers by way of contracting .

With this model, the electricity customer concluded an “energy service contract” with an “energy service provider”. Another company, the “network operator”, was commissioned to operate the “home network” and all of the customer's devices, which “converted” the electricity supplied into “useful energy”, for example light. At the same time, the "network operator" was commissioned with the procurement and delivery of green electricity. So there was - on paper - the "network operator" between the electricity customers and the "energy service provider". All the companies mentioned belonged to the same holding company, i.e. to the same company .

In the opinion of Care-Energy, this provision of useful energy was not an energy supply within the meaning of the Energy Industry Act and therefore without the obligation to pay the EEG surcharge .

history

From the end of 2011 Care-Energy offered its "energy service". A kilowatt hour of green electricity cost 19.9 cents, an average of 40 percent less than the competition. With a purchase price of 19.84 cents, the company wanted to earn primarily from the basic fee of 6.99 euros per month. It also sold electrical appliances through its website.

At the end of 2012, the transmission system operators Amprion , Tennet and 50Hertz filed a lawsuit against Care-Energy for payment of the EEG surcharge, as the business model was assessed as a sham contracting .

In May 2013, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations warned the Care-Energy group of companies because of inadmissible general terms and conditions and unfair advertising. A competitor spread the rumor that, due to the contract structure, customers would not be able to fall back on the basic service in the event of bankruptcy . At this point in time, the company said it had won more than 250,000 customers through a network of more than 8,000 independent agents. and achieved sales of around 100 million euros in the previous year.

In June 2013 the Federal Network Agency imposed a fine of 40,000 euros for failing to report the energy delivery. In fact, the business model is "nothing else [...] than traditional electricity sales". As a result, the company was obliged to pay the EEG surcharge for the energy supplied.

In July 2013 it became known that the group of companies had failed to meet its accounting obligations in 2009, 2010 and 2011 and that the Federal Justice Office had imposed administrative fines for this.

In a number of cases in 2012 and 2013 , distribution network operators temporarily refused or canceled Care-Energy network access due to the contractual structure or due to payment arrears. These included the network operators Vattenfall, ZEV, Netzdienste Rhein-Main, Hanau-Netz, Thuringian Energy Networks, Bayernwerk, Delitzsch Netz, Netz Leipzig, Mitnetz and the enercity Netzgesellschaft.

In October 2013, the supply subsidiary mk-energy changed its name to United Power & Gas. In November 2014, Care-Energy increased the prices for existing customers in the Classic tariff to 24.9 cents per kilowatt hour and the monthly basic fee to 9.90 euros. New customers, on the other hand, were guaranteed a price of 19.9 cents per kilowatt hour for 12 months.

In December 2014, the Federal Network Agency imposed a further fine of € 400,000 on the company, again for failing to report the energy delivery. At that time, Care-Energy said it had around 360,000 customers and employed 7,000 people. A new offer was introduced in which electricity should be supplied free of charge if customers bought electrical appliances for a certain amount in the company's online shop.

In mid-2015, Care-Energy AG , based in Munich, replaced the supply company United Power & Gas . Care-Energy AG is a conventional energy supplier and pays the EEG surcharge.

In November 2015, the Hamburg Regional Court decided in the first instance that Care-Energy, more precisely the Group company Care Energy Energiedienstleistungen (previously mk-power your energy service provider , now renamed Expertos Unternehmens- und Wirtschaftsberatung ) had to pay around 82 million euros in the EEG levy. Care-Energy appealed the judgment to no avail, but the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court allowed the appeal. In an earlier trial, the complaint had been dismissed by the higher regional court because the wrong group company had been sued.

In mid-2016, the transmission system operators 50Hertz and Tennet of Care-Energy AG terminated the balancing group contract due to outstanding advance payments for the EEG surcharge. The affected customers fell into the basic service tariff .

Martin Kristek, the founder and managing director of the Care-Energy Group, died in January 2017 of a heart attack. Marc März, who previously acted as press spokesman, took over the management of Care Energy Management GmbH .

According to the company, 12,500 customers in Germany were supplied with electricity and 2000 customers with gas, and 12,900 customers in Austria with electricity.

Bankruptcy 2017

In 2017 Care-Energy AG, Care-Energy Holding GmbH and Care-Energy Management GmbH filed for bankruptcy.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Care Energy: Insolvent electricity provider continues operations for the time being. Augsburger Allgemeine , February 19, 2017, accessed on February 19, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Hamburg electricity provider: Care Energy boss Martin Kristek has died. In: Abendblatt.de , January 22, 2017, accessed on January 23, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Stefan Schultz: Care Energy: Industry war over electricity discounters. In: Spiegel Online. May 16, 2013, accessed May 19, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Jürgen Flauger, Sönke Iwersen: After Teldafax and Flexstrom: New alarm on the electricity market. In: handelsblatt.com. May 14, 2013, accessed May 20, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b Benjamin Reuter: Care Energy: Interview with Germany's most controversial eco-entrepreneur. In: wiwo.de. June 5, 2013, accessed May 20, 2016 .
  6. ↑ vzbv warns Care Energy. In: vzbv.de. May 3, 2013, accessed May 19, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Fine imposed on Care Energy. In: bundesnetzagentur.de. June 3, 2013, accessed May 19, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Justice Department threatens Care with higher fines. In: ZfK.de. June 16, 2013, accessed May 19, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Care Energy with a new name. In: ZfK.de. October 21, 2013, accessed May 19, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Stefan Schultz: Care Energy: Controversial electricity discounter increases prices significantly. In: Spiegel Online. November 13, 2013, accessed May 20, 2016 .
  11. ↑ a b Daniel Wetzel: The supervisory authority imposes a fine against Care-Energy. In: welt.de. December 22, 2014, accessed May 20, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Benjamin Reuter: Free can be expensive: Hamburg energy supplier gives away electricity. In: wiwo.de. January 21, 2015, accessed May 20, 2016 .
  13. ↑ a b Frederick Krüll: Care-Energy - the next step in the judicial processing. In: hoech-blog.de. Höch und Partner Rechtsanwälte, accessed on August 23, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Care Energy has to pay millions to transmission system operators. In: energate-messenger.de. November 20, 2015, accessed May 19, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Care Energy: Network operators lose, pay and complain again. In: www.energate-messenger.de. October 17, 2014, accessed May 19, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Gernot Knödler: Energy supply for advanced users. In: taz.de. August 31, 2014, accessed May 20, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Manuel Berkel: Care Energy partially stops deliveries of electricity. In: bizzenergytoday.com. June 28, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016 .
  18. ↑ TenneT terminates balancing group contract with Care-Energy AG. (No longer available online.) In: tennet.eu. July 15, 2016, archived from the original on July 16, 2016 ; accessed on July 24, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tennet.eu
  19. ↑ After Martin Kristek's death: Care Energy continues. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. January 22, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017 .
  20. ^ Insolvency Care-Energy AG. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  21. ^ Insolvency Care-Energy Holding GmbH. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  22. ^ Insolvency Care-Energy Management GmbH. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .